The Age of Artificial Intelligence: Where Are We Now?

A processor, the brain of computers (Image Source: Pixabay)

For a long time, humanity would dream of things and would find themselves years later living that dream. In the Age of Exploration, man sought to conquer the world and now one only needs a plastic card and pieces of paper and metals to go anywhere. Before the last great war, all the technology people had in the 80’s and the 90’s were just a child’s fantasy. And the technology we now use for our everyday lives were fantasy to the kids of the 80’s and 90’s.

With this rapid advancement of technology one particular field is quickly finding more and more practical use in other industries. That field is the field of Artificial Intelligence.

The State of Technology of Artificial Intelligence

Vladimir Putin recognizes that he who leads the AI race will rule the world (Image Source: Pixabay)

Thirty years ago humans could only create very simple AI. Take video games for example: the behavioral patterns shown by the “enemies” on screen were very simple and even a kid could memorize what an opponent AI would do in specific situations. They only did simple, repetitive actions. No AI is above a human. Today, as we are able to store more data per square millimeter, we are able to program more complex AI. They are now able to respond to more different situations and give the correct course of action, depending on the goal. They can even start learning on what to do by themselves. If they run a simulation on it long enough, AI with learning abilities picks up the best ways to respond in a situation. It isn’t advanced enough to give AI human consciousness, emotions, and personality just yet, but with how fast technology is advancing, it’s safe to assume that we’ll be there in a few more years.

A good example is the development of Artificial Intelligence for self-driving cars. What we were seeing in Sci-Fi movies a long time ago, you might just see it as you drive around Nevada in the near future. Video games, too, have become even more complex, frustrating and fun, thanks to better AI opponents. So much better, that they are now able to beat even the best gamers out there in the competitive world of eSports. AI isn’t just “for the military” anymore. They can now do more complex stuff that guide rockets and missiles to the target. They can sort the ads that appear to you, detect commands from users via speech, and even protect humans for cyber attacks.

In fact, Russian President Vladimir Putin recently recognized the importance of artificial intelligence and the benefits it presents to all industries. Though he admits that the possible threats this might bring to everyone are hard to foresee, he did say that “the one who becomes the leader in this sphere will be the ruler of the world” in a speech to a group of students.

The Dangers Of Artificial Intelligence

Elon Musk, co-founder of OpenAI (Image Source: thedysseyonline)

Ironically, Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, Tesla, and co-founder of OpenAI, preaches about the existential risk posed by artificial intelligence. In fact, this is one of his motivations for founding OpenAI, which is a non-profit research company specializing in artificial intelligence.

The argument goes that if a super intelligent AI was created in the near future, and the goals of the AI goes against human values, then the AI might just try to destroy us all. Basically, a misbehaving AI going against its orders. Another concern is that AI might take over human jobs, rendering most of humanity jobless and without income. Since AI can learn faster and better than humans do, they might take over jobs humans usually do because robots cost cheaper than humans. It doesn’t help that innovations today creates less or no new jobs at all. The AI innovation might even become a negative factor when trying to create jobs for people.

While this sounds something that came out of a movie, the science and technology-related industries treat these concerns very seriously. People like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Stephen Hawking are just three of the many people who fear that AI might grow too powerful beyond human control and turn against us. Humanity might just find themselves obsolete, replaced by thinking objects made with metal and plastics.

Conclusion

It might be dangerous, but the rewards and the possibilities can’t certainly be ignored. We just have to hope that, in the future, they might find a way to solve the problems with artificial intelligence and make it safe for humanity to use. If humanity plays their cards right, AI might be the key to advancing our civilization to a much higher standard. But if they played it wrong, it might also spell the end of us all.